Revenge?

In December of 2011, Patricia Elkins, 47, pleaded guilty to a bomb threat she made towards a cruise ship in June of that same year. Elkins, who is from Arkansas, called Carnival Cruise Lines to anonymously inform them that there was a bomb on one of their ships en route to Cozumel, Mexico. There were two ships, each with about 3,000 people aboard, which were immediately informed of this threat. A bomb was not found but police were able to track down Patricia Elkins who at first denied making the threat. She then later admitted that she called in the threat. Elkins told police that she was upset with a man she was living with at the time who was aboard one of the ships. She was mad at the man for not including her in his trip. This was a little too extreme for revenge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Schoenbein tried to get her a strict sentence, “citing the number of people affected, some 7,000 aboard two ships, and the time and effort spent by crew members to investigate the threat. The prosecutor also noted that Elkins had called in a threat in 2003 to a high school in Bloomington but wasn’t prosecuted.” Yesterday, Patricia Elkins was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison.